All posts by Darth Vader

Bouts of Words

  1. Peddler
  2. Wares
  3. Importunities
  4. Gallantry
  5. Febrile
  6. Exploited
  7. Smother
  8. Placid
  9. Regalia
  10. Tumultuously
  11. Powwow
  12. Barracks
  13. Clamor
  14. Lamenting
  15. Capricious

I always mark words I do not know when I read a book, I did the same whilst reading through various texts for school the only difference was that I actually looked them up with the thought of posting them online. (even though I slacked on that really bad) Even so, I did look them up. I usually only look up words when I read on my tablet since it’s easy to highlight a word and get it’s meaning. This exercise was a good way to get into the habit of looking up words right away as opposed to just marking them with the intention of getting back to them and not doing so. I also try to use these words as much as possible to add them into my daily vocabulary. Overall, as tedious as it was I am glad I was forced to look up many words and then post whichever ones weren’t posted yet.  Definitely a good challenge for myself since pausing and writing down words makes reading much less fun.

 

Lamenting

Lamenting noun \lə-ˈment\

a  : an expression of sorrow; especially : a song or poem that expresses sorrow for someone who has died or something that is gone
The farther she was from the fence, the more clearly the voices crowded at her. The lamenting voices strummed so convincingly, so passionately, it was impossible to suspect them of being phantoms. The voices told her to h9ld up the shawl, high; the voices told her to shake it, to whip with it, to unfurl it like a flag. Rosa lifted, shook, whipped, unfurled.
The Shawl paragraph 15
The voices were an expression of sorrow. They were singing in the sorrow of Rosa who is the only one that heard them.

Clamor

Clamor noun \ˈkla-mər\

a : a loud continuous noise (such as the noise made when many people are talking or shouting)

Even when the lice, head lice and body lice, crazed her so that she became as wild as one of the big rats that plundered the barracks at daybreak looking for carrion, she rubbed and scratched and kicked and bit and rolled without a whimper. But now Magda’s mouth was spilling a long viscous rope of clamor.

The Shawl paragraph 10

Magda was now making a loud and continuous noise. She was crying basically like she never did before.

Barracks

Barracks noun \ˈber-ək, -ik; ˈba-rək, -rik\

a :  a structure resembling a shed or barn that provides temporary housing

b :  housing characterized by extreme plainness or dreary uniformity —usually used in plural in all senses

No one took it away from her. Magda was mute. She never cried. Rosa hid her in the barracks, under the shawl, but she knew that one day someone would inform; or one day someone, not even Stella, would steal Magda to eat her.

The Shawl paragraph 6

She hid Magda in a shed like structure. I thought barracks meant something like a cellar but it turned out to be a shed/barn.

Powwow

Powwow noun \ˈpaˌwa\

a : a social gathering of Native Americans that usually includes dancing

b : a meeting for people to discuss something

But the strangest thing of all was the old powwow-dance regalia I saw hanging in the window.

What You Pawn I Will Redeem paragraph 6

After coming across this word a few times in the story I just knew I had to look it up. I was thinking something more along the lines of a festival. Instead it’s a social gathering, a meeting of sorts.

Regalia

Regalia noun \ri-ˈgāl-yə\

a : special clothes and decorations (such as a crown or scepter) for official ceremonies

b : special clothing of a particular kind

“But the strangest thing of all was the old powwow-dance regalia I saw hanging in the window.”

What you Pawn I will Redeem paragraph 6

I don’t know what I expected regalia to be but it wasn’t a special adornment. I thought it to be an heirloom of sorts that was passed down from previous generations.